Cooperative Behavior Evokes Interbrain Synchrony in the Prefrontal and Temporoparietal Cortex: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of fNIRS Hyperscanning Studies

Artur Czeszumski; Sophie Hsin-Yi Liang; Suzanne Dikker; Peter König; Chin-Pang Lee; Sander L. Koole; Brent Kelsen

doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0268-21.2022

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Figure 1.
Flowchart of selection process.
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Figure 2.
Interbrain synchrony in different parts of the prefrontal and temporoparietal cortex in various tasks used to study cooperation.
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Figure 3.
Forest plot of all included studies. Boxes represent effect sizes and whiskers confidence intervals.

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Table 1

Selected studies

Study	Country Language	Sample size^# Relationship	Age M	SD	Activity	Oral communication	Channels Phase analysis IBS regions	IBS comparison
Liu et al. (2016)	• United States • English	• 18 F-F = 2 F-M = 5 M-M = 2 • Strangers	21.1	1.7	Jenga game	Yes	• 19 • WTC • IFG/MFG	Cooperation > dialogue
Fishburn et al. (2018)	• United States • English	• 60 (57) F = 37 • Strangers	19.73	1.02	Tangram puzzle	Yes	• 18 spread over triad • Autoregressive model and robust correlation • IFG/MFG	Together active > apart
Xue et al. (2018)	• China • Chinese	• 90 (60) F = 43 • Strangers	20	2.13	Realistic presented problem	Yes	• 46 • WTC • DLPFC and TPJ	More cooperative dyads > less/no cooperative dyads
Lu and Hao (2019)	• China • Chinese	• 44 (42) F = 40 • Strangers	20.66	2.29	Realistic presented problem	Yes	• 22 • WTC • DLPFC	Real participants > confederate
Lu et al. (2019a)	• China • Chinese	• 118 F = 102 • Strangers	20.72	2.47	Realistic presented problem	Yes	• 22 • WTC • FPC and DLPFC	Positive and negative feedback > control
Lu et al. (2019b)	• China • Chinese	• 104 (102) F = 64 • Strangers	21	1.52	Creativity task	Yes	• 46 • WTC • DLPFC and TPJ	Cooperation > competition
Duan et al. (2020)	• China • Chinese	• 84 F-M dyads • Lovers = 20 Strangers = 22	20.3	0.84	Realistic presented problem	Yes	• 19 • WTC • FPC, TPJ	Lovers (cooperative) > strangers (no cooperative)
Sun et al. (2020)	• China • Chinese	• 68 • 16 novice teachers (M = 3) • 18 expert teachers (M = 4) • 34 students (M = 7) • Same sex dyads • Strangers	NT (25.81) ET (38.00) S (20.15)	NT (4.69) ET (4.30) S (1.67)	Math task	No	• 22 • WTC • DLPFC	Cooperative > independent
Y. Li et al. (2021)	• China • Chinese	• 90 (86) F = 45 M-M = 13 M- F = 15 F-F = 15. • Strangers	21.14	2.01	Jenga game	No	• 22 • WTC • IFG/MFG	Cooperation > competition
Dai et al. (2018)	• China • Chinese	• 84 • Same sex dyads • Strangers	22.77	2.19	Joint tapping task	No	• 22 • Correlation • IFG/MFG	Biderection > unidirectional
Osaka et al. (2015)	• Japan • Japanese	• Singing 30 M-M = 8 F-F = 7 • Humming 28 M-M = 9 F-F = 5 • Stranger	S (22) H (21)	Missing	Singing	No	• 22 • WTC • IFG/MFG • Parietal cortex • MTG • IT	Cooperative > alone
Li et al. (2020)	• China • Chinese	• 48 • Familiar	19.8	1.65	Joint drawing task	No	• 22 • WTC • DLPFC	Cooperative > alone
Cui et al. (2012)	• United States • English	• 22 F = 12 M-M = 1 M-F = 8 F-F = 2	26	6	Joint tap	No	• 22 • WTC • SFG	Cooperation > competition

↵^#Figures in parentheses = sample size after removing unused data; relationship = participants either known or unknown to each other; F = female; M = male; PFC = prefrontal cortex; MFG = middle frontal gyrus; IFG = inferior frontal gyrus; FPC = frontopolar cortex; DLPFC = dorsolateral PFC; SFG = superior frontal gyrus; TPJ = temporoparietal junction; MTG = middle temporal gyrus; IT = inferior temporal cortex; WTC = wavelet transform coherence.